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Saturday, 15 February 2014

100 Days To Stop UKIP

On Tuesday, 100 days until the European elections Liberal Democrats launched a campaign to stop UKIP from becoming a major force in the EU.

Writing in the i newspaper Nick Clegg said:

“In 100 days the next set of European elections will take place across the UK – and UKIP can’t wait.

Nigel Farage has been happily touring the clubs, bars and broadcast studios for months now telling anyone who will listen that he thinks his party will win them. And you know what? They might.

“What not enough people are telling you is why that would be a disaster for Britain. UKIP’s policies range from the barmy to the outright dangerous, none more so than their ultimate aim of pulling Britain out of the European Union, wrecking the economy and destroying jobs.

“The Conservatives won’t tell you that because, deep down, most of them want to pull us out of Europe too.

“And Labour won’t tell you that because they think you don’t want to hear it. They’re divided on Europe and even those that want us to stay in Europe are shying away from making the case publicly. They don’t have the courage of their convictions and they won’t lift a finger to keep us in.

“They are both seemingly content to let UKIP steal the limelight and edge us all slowly towards the European exit door.

“Only the Liberal Democrats are fighting to keep Britain IN Europe. IN for the sake of the 3.5m British jobs linked to trade with the EU. IN to work with our neighbours to tackle cross-border crime and fight climate change. IN because we know that Britain can only stand tall in the world if we stand tall in our own back yard.

“The real question at this May’s election is: in or out?

“UKIP want us out, the Liberal Democrats want us in. It’s as simple as that.

“But if you’ve seen Nigel Farage on telly, or met him in the pub, you might think ‘this guy’s alright, he seems like a laugh, how can he possibly be dangerous’.

“Well he is dangerous.

“More than 3m jobs and billions of pounds of investment in Britain are being undermined by his party’s eurosceptic obsession. If we leave the EU, British companies could be hit by new export taxes and exclusion from the EU's market while huge American, German and Japanese employers such as Nissan, Siemens and Ford have all warned that they could cut investment or even relocate from the UK to countries still inside the EU, causing huge job losses.

“One MEP wants British Muslims to sign a declaration denouncing sections of Koran. Then there’s the plain barmy policies.

“They want to cap the number of foreign players Premiership clubs can have at three. So if you are, say, Man City, it would mean sending home all but three from Aguero, Toure, Kompany, Nasri, Fernandinho, Negredo, Silva, Navas, Garcia, Clichy, Dzeko, Kolarov and Zabaletta.

“They want to ban service workers wearing baseball caps.

“One of their number even tried to blame the bad weather on equal marriage.

“So I am not the least bit relaxed about UKIP winning in May. I want to stop them. The Liberal Democrats want to stop them. And we need your help.

“Don’t wait for a General Election or a referendum. If you want to stop UKIP we have 100 days. Are you IN?”